A few months ago XYZ Computing held a large shootout of caffeine products. There are so many of these types of products out there that we figured we should at least try to see which ones were worth looking at. Though this shootout went over quite well there were a few critics. One such person was the owner of Vroom Foods, Inc.

At the time of the shootout Vroom Foods’ products, Buzz Bites™ Chocolate Energy Chews and Foosh™ Energy Mints, were still under development. They were being designed to be unlike any caffeine or energy product to date. In my preparation for the review I have learned that caffeine has a bitter taste that is very tough to mask, so as to make a palatable product. Because of this some producers have had to resort to misleading information about their products’ contents. For example saying a piece of candy has a “200mg energy rush” would seem to mean that it has 200mg of caffeine, as it is a caffeine product, but this is not always the case. That 200mg may include caffeine but it will also count things like taurine, ginseng, and B vitamins.

Another important thing to note is serving size.Some products claim to have a “colas” worth of caffeine per serving.However, this means one would have to eat three to six mints to get the cola equivalent.One mint company says a “cola” beverage has 21mg of caffeine.I wasn’t able to find a cola on the net with less than 30mg of caffeine.With Foosh™ Energy Mints one mint has 100mg of caffeine, which is what they call a cup of coffee’s worth of caffeine. Some manufactures claim 60mg is a cup of coffee equivalent.

Vrooms Foods, Inc. was founded to produce “seriously caffeinated™” energy products without all the misinformation. They intend to offer the benefits of a significant amount of caffeine along with other nutrients. A major focus is that they will not skimp on the caffeine- though it is bitter tasting they plan to deal with that unlike any other company has been able to. They claim to have spent 4 years of development to overcome the bitterness of their active ingredients.

Vroom Foods wants to offer consumers the energy boost of a hot cup of coffee or a cold soda without having a stove or refrigerator on hand. While they are by no means the first company to try to do this they seem more dedicated than most. Let’s see how they did…

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The first product we looked at from Vroom Foods is called “Foosh™ Energy Mints”. This small container holds twelve 1.8g mints. These rather large mints are flavored with real peppermint and are powered by nutrients like five B vitamins, ginseng, and taurine. In addition each mint has 100mg of caffeine.

Yes that’s right, 100mg. It has been tested, verified and all that. Look at this handy chart below to see how much 100mg actually is. Keep in mind that many other products claim be an “energy product” this may be anywhere from trace amounts of caffeine all the way up to 100mg, or more. Foosh has all 100mg of caffeine plus 20% of your daily recommended amount of Vitamin B6 and 75% of your B12. In addition it has ginseng, taurine, and three other B vitamins. If this was not enough, they are sugar-free.

The other product that Vroom currently produces is “Buzz Bites™ Chocolate Energy Chews”. While many companies currently produce caffeinated mints and chocolates, these are “Chocolate Energy Chews”. They are basically 6g chocolates that come six to a tin.

These chews have just 25 calories but are not sugarfree, in fact corn syrup is the primary ingredient. The mints and chews have basically the same nutrition information give or take a few calories and some sugar.

Examining these products I developed very high expectations for them. The consistency and taste of a chew should be able to overcome the bitter taste that 100mg of caffeine throws into the mix. Also they do not have the chalky taste and consistency that so often comes along with this type of thing.

Buzz Bites™ cost $3.99 for one tin (six) or $36.00 for 12 tins.

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[buzz bites in wrapper]

Tasting

Normally the tasting section of a caffeine review is a real hassle. No only do they tend to keep you awake or feeling a bit ‘hyper’ for some time but usually they flat out don’t taste good…

Well, I am not pregnant or a child but I still take caffeine seriously. Make sure to not exceed the manufacturer’s suggested consumption amounts.

The first product I tried was a Foosh™ Energy Mint. I am not a fan of very strong mints so I normally don’t like caffeinated mints because producers tend to make the mint very strong to overcome the bitterness. I have to say that Foosh mints tasted very good, the taste was certainly not overwhelming, I think it was more refreshing than any else. This is quite an accomplishment as caffeine is the number two ingredient in this product, behind sorbitol.

I think the best thing about Foosh mints it that whether you like the taste of the mints or not, you only need one mint to get you going. I was informed that the popular product “Penguin Mints” have only 7mg of caffeine in each individual mint. So if you want to get the caffeine boost of one Foosh mint you need to have about thirteen!

By the way, these mints are peppermint flavored. Personally I would have preferred spearmint but I don’t think its taste would have been strong enough to overcome the caffeine.

A few hours later I gave the Buzz Bites™ a try. In their plain foil wrappers they looked like bullion cubes but I had one anyway. These chews are a little softer than caramels and have a chocolate-like taste. There is no missing the hint of bitterness that the caffeine alkaloid brings to the mix but this is not really a bad thing. Buzz Bites still taste great and they do not have an overwhelmingly sugary taste.

All told I am a big fan of the Buzz Bites. I found that they offer a powerful amount of caffeine and a good taste- one of the best of any caffeine product I have tried, though some reviewers preferred XTZ’s Turbo Truffles. The difference in the rush of energy between the two is immense though- while the Truffles are effective Buzz Bites™ are even more so. As for the ‘chew’ it is a good consistency- not so chewy it sticks to your teeth, it holds together for a little while.

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Conclusion

It is really tough to quantify attributes like taste and “energy boost” but I have to say Vroom Foods really did their homework. First of all, their products supply you with 100mg of caffeine- thats equivalent to a full of coffee. Next they taste good. I mean, they’re not amazing but caffeine products generally do not taste great so the fact that these even resemble the taste of candy is quite an accomplishment.

I think a lot of companies in the caffeine market do a lot of ‘talking’ and boasting but in the end they don’t really produce. It is one thing to say a product give will give you a great energy boost, a lot of this business is psychosomatic, but it is a completely different thing to really get things done. In my correspondence with the owner of Vroom he has convinced me that he had many of the caffeine products on the market tested, to distinguish between “energy products” and actually caffeine/guarana content. From there he was able to get a feel for the industry and make items that are “Seriously Caffeinated” unlike many others.

I have to say, I like his attitude and I think Vroom Foods is on to something. Technically it was much too late to enter it in our Caffeine Products Shootout but I am sure it would have placed very highly. Now, is a good prospect for next year’s competition!

Rating:Foosh- 94Buzz Bites- 98

Vroom Foods’ products are currently available at Vroomfoods.com and will be at ThinkGeek.com shortly.

Reader Comments

Rippedoff

<p style=”margin: 0in 0in 0pt” class=”MsoNormal”><font size=”3″><font face=”Times New Roman”><span> </span>I conceder myself to be an entrepreneur.<span> </span>Looking for a new business venture, I started to look into the new highly advertised Buzz Bites “Opportunity”.<span> </span>Unfortunately, I was wasting my time.<span> </span>After about a week of internet searching, looking into what it would take to make this business work, checking with procedures on how to go about setting up a vending business.<span> </span>Getting taxes, licensing, and business structure in general all figured out. </font></font>

<p style=”margin: 0in 0in 0pt” class=”MsoNormal”><font size=”3″><font face=”Times New Roman”><span> </span>I contacted Independent Vending Concepts about purchasing some Machines.<span> </span>They gave me the pitch, clamed to be a Selection Committee for Distributors, and they are so busy with other locations all around the U. S. that they belittled my $10,250 purchase.<span> </span>Being the conservative that I am, I asked if I could buy some product to use for machine placement and secure some locations before I went through with the purchase.<span> </span>Nope, they wouldn’t do that.<span> </span>So I mistakenly put down a 20% deposit for the machines so I could get my hands on some product.<span> </span>This was to ensure that I could get some feed back on placement and product before going any further.<span> </span></font></font>
<p style=”margin: 0in 0in 0pt” class=”MsoNormal”><font size=”3″><font face=”Times New Roman”><span> </span>Well, unfortunately I had some family and personal issues come up, that would not allow me to further pursue this business.<span> </span>As we all know life happens. <span> </span>So I called and left several messages about regretting that I will not be able to proceed and would need a refund.<span> </span>Having not signed anything, I was not too worried about getting the money back.<span> </span>So as time went on I was obviously put on the “back burner”, then I started to get some contact with the individual I was working with.<span> </span>I received an email that pretty much called me a liar, and that they have never had anyone ask for a refund so they didn’t know what to do.<span> </span>Well, I will tell you it is just as easy to credit a credit card as it is to charge one.<span> </span>I was urged to go forward with the purchase and given excuses that the head of the company was out of town.<span> </span>They wouldn’t be able to do anything if at all, so my deposit will be forfeited.<span> </span></font></font>
<p style=”margin: 0in 0in 0pt” class=”MsoNormal”><font size=”3″><font face=”Times New Roman”><span> </span>Well I then contacted My Credit Card Company and am now waiting for the out come of filing a disputed charge.<span> </span>I am pretty confident that I will get my money back.</font></font>
<font face=”Times New Roman” size=”3″> </font> <p style=”margin: 0in 0in 0pt” class=”MsoNormal”><font size=”3″><font face=”Times New Roman”>To anyone thinking of dealing with the BUZZ BITES MACHINES:<span> </span>I am not putting down the product, in fact I love them and think buzz bites are great.<span> </span>I would not deal with The INDEPENDENT VENDING CONCEPTS Company.<span> </span>If you are set on building an energy vending business with buzz bites DO NOT GO THROUGH THESE GUYS!!<span> </span>They are a shady bunch of unprofessional, commission hungry sales tricksters.<span> </span></font></font>
<font face=”Times New Roman” size=”3″> </font> <p style=”margin: 0in 0in 0pt” class=”MsoNormal”><font face=”Times New Roman” size=”3″>I hope this finds anyone that needs it.<span> </span>Again, try to find an alternate source if you are looking to get your hands on some BUZZ BITES ENERGY CHEWS VENDING MACHINES OR START A ENERGY VENDING BUSINESS!!!</font>
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After going to the extent of contacting a few people that matter to this company, my issues are on their way to being resolved. I am working with the president of the company, whom is very intent on helping getting me my deposit back.

From my understanding the problem within the company has been fixed. This will no longer happen to anyone, and I truely believe this. In fact I am still concidering doing business with this company in the future.

I guess all it takes is one bad apple to ruin the bunch. But if the bad apple is removed then the bunch can be salvaged.

Don't let this post hinder you from doing business with Independent Vending Concepts. I, the creator of this report, am certain this company is full of integrity!!!